Theatre TJC to present ‘An Evening of O’Neill’

Published 5:40 am Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Tyler Junior College is bringing life at sea to the forefront with a collection of one-act plays by Eugene O’Neill.

Theatre TJC’s upcoming performance, “An Evening of O’Neill: The Glencairn Sea Plays, opens Feb. 22 and examines the not so glamorous and sometimes dangerous daily life aboard ship in the early 1900s.

The one-act plays include “Bound East for Cardiff,” directed by David Crawford; “Long Voyage Home, directed by Jacob L. Davis; and “In the Zone,” directed by Ethan Beam.

“Eugene O’Neill was the first internationally known playwright and early in his career he had six one acts, all sharing the same subject matter from his experience with life at sea as a merchant seaman,” said Crawford, who is a professor in TJC’s Theater Department. “The three we selected were written in order and … they often had a sharing of the same characters but they’re three different story lines.”

The cast and crew include Timothy Wright; Dylan Preston, Izayak Suarez, Nathan Hill, Asaiah Ruiz, Sam Murphy, Jackson T. Holmes, Jene van Heerden, Salvador Mendez, Audrey Lassanske, Elise Ray and Shaleigh Van Leer.

First up is “Bound East for Cardiff,” a story about two men’s long friendship.

“They have been friends as long as they have been seamen aboard the same ship and they have spent the last five years as close friends,” Crawford said. “One of them has an accident and … his friend stays at his side … as he passes on. It also shows the relationships of the other crewmen around them and how they respond to one of their own, whose life is ebbing. It’s a very beautiful, touching story of these two men’s friendship.”

Next is “In the Zone,” which takes place during the first part of WWI.

“This ship is a cargo vessel and it is running between the United States and England,” Crawford said. “It is during that time when the Nazis U-boats were attacking all of the merchant ships coming back and forth. The effect on the men in the ships is the subject in this play.”

The last performance is “Long Voyage Home.”

“They have reached England and they are able to finally get off the ship and they go into the part of England down near the docks where they are having a little bit of R&R,” Crawford said. “And one young man, he’s been at sea for years and now he’s coming home with enough money to be able to help his family, is drugged by these people at this bar.”

What happened to the young man was common practice during that time, Crawford said.

“Seamen off a ship who have very little family and people don’t know who they are were drugged and put onto another ship and sent out,” he said. “This is what happens to this poor young man. He was going home finally. He was going to put sailing behind him and then he was enslaved.”

Crawford said, “Eugene O’Neill was America’s first and greatest playwright. How often do you get to see Eugene O’Neill done? Not very often.”

What: “An Evening of O’Neill: The Glencairn Sea Plays,” presented by Theatre TJC

When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22-25, 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25

Where: Jean Browne Theatre, Tyler Junior College, 1301 S. Mahon Ave., Tyler

Tickets: $10 adults, $5 seniors 65 and up, students and active military

Information: https://www.tjc.edu/theatre